The No. 5 Guelph Gryphons knocked off the No. 10 Carleton Ravens on Saturday to advance to the Yates Cup for the third time in the past four years. Carleton, fresh off their first playoff win since the program’s rebirth in 2013, were looking to defeat a Gryphon team coming off a bye week they struggled against in the regular season. They made this game very interesting right until the end.
Carleton scored an early 68-yard touchdown, but failed to sustain drives against a Gryphons defence that was in top form in the first half. They held Carleton to just 50 rushing yards by halftime. Guelph’s offence, meanwhile, looked eerily similar to their loss against Queen’s; marching the ball effectively up the field before stalling in the redzone. Johnny Augustine and Brandon Gordon took advantage of some excellent blocking from the offensive line (Toppan, Pickett, Nesbitt, Bader-Shamai, Fraser) and looked unstoppable for most of the game.
Guelph put up some ridiculous numbers, including 317 total yards, 147 passing yards, and 48 total plays in one half, but had to settle for four Gabe Ferraro field goals and no touchdowns. Despite having twice the offensive production, Guelph led 12-9 at half.
The second half looked like a much different game. Linebacker John Rush came out firing, recording a tackle, sack, and blocked punt on three consecutive plays. Brandon Gordon would scamper for 51 yards to set himself up for a touchdown two plays later, giving the Gryphons a 19-9 lead. However, Carleton made some halftime adjustments, and they were able to exploit the Gryphon defence with short passes to the flats and the field side corner. The Gryphon offense had difficulty responding, and after a field goal and safety made the score 19-14, things were looking interesting. The Gryphon’s offensive line allowed Augustine to score two quick touchdowns to seal the victory, even though Carleton would tack on a garbage time touchdown to make the final 33-21.
Augustine finished with the best single game in Gryphons history, with 245 yards and 2 TDs. Ryan Nieuwesteeg had a great game at both returner and receiver, with 232 all purpose yards. I talked to an anonymous CFL scout before the game who said he was there to look at Nieuwesteeg, and I’m sure he left impressed. James Roberts played well, with no interceptions and a nice 17-31 for 208 yards. There were more incompletions than I’m sure he would have liked, but with the o-line and RBs playing like they were, he did more than enough to win. The Gryphon defence completely shut down Carleton’s 1000-yard rusher Jahvari Bennet, who averaged only 3.6 yards per carry (compared to 7.0 for Augustine). Brandon Gordon had a nice game as the change-of-pace back; without his big run to start the second half the Gryphons might have been in trouble.
No one enjoys losing, but the Carleton Ravens had to be happy just to be here. They have made massive strides since their “first” year in 2013, going from 0-8 to being in the national top 10 in just three seasons, and they aren’t going away any time soon. The Carleton Ravens are quickly looking like the perfect model for building an OUA franchise. Like Laval, the team is owned and operated by a group of alumni, not the university, and has been financially successful since their return. They have invested in some of the best facilities in the league, and the recruits have followed. With the coaching staff they have assembled, and all of their players peaking at the same time, this will be a very dangerous team in the next couple of seasons and likely beyond.